Reattu Revisited - A new presentation of the permanent collections

Collective Exhibition

Revoir Réattu, The Fine Arts Museum Collections

A unique presentation of the permanent collection

For Arles citizens , no doubt we don’t go to the Fine Arts museum of Arles , but one goes to  « the Réattu ». Such as a signature or a trademark,  « the Réattu » inevitably evokes the figure of the great neoclassical painter, Jacques Réattu (1760-1833), but also the museum he created which is bathed by the Midi light and the waters of the Rhone flowing at his feet.

Reinstalled in his hometown since he has acquired a former commander of the Order of Malta in 1796, the building provided a sumptuous backdrop to the work of Jacques Réattu painter committed as republican artist. Workshop of the artist and collector, dream house for him who planed to accommodate artists who come to enjoy the light that later fascinated Vincent van Gogh, who, with the same conviction, imagined L’atelier du midi. The former Grand Priory of the Order of Malta became in 1868 the Museum of Fine Arts of Arles with Elizabeth Grange, Réattu’s daughter, who donated the buildings and collections to the City.

The new exhibition takes advantage of this dual identity - a former palace of the Order of Malta and artist's home - celebrating the architectural dimension of a historical site in dialogue with collections constantly enriched by a policy of contemporary art acquisitions.

The objective is to reaffirm identity museum , built consistently over time , since the late nineteenth century to its current development. The works are redeployed in four parts on all 1300 m2 museum spaces, painters of the seventeenth century to the most contemporary artists, evoking the diversity and uniqueness of collections.

To top